


Listen, I Love You And All, But Enough With The Spiders

by shardsoflilium



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Elemental Magic, Kissing, M/M, Making Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 04:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7299415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shardsoflilium/pseuds/shardsoflilium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I don't even know, I'm writing this for the Armin Week event on tumblr.<br/>For the first two days Aesthetics and Elements</p>
            </blockquote>





	Listen, I Love You And All, But Enough With The Spiders

**Author's Note:**

> For the aesthetic bit, have some Nature/Exploration music to go along with this  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF756QNlNcQ8g9zTIboITrzujle5KAro8

Leaves and thistles crunched and snapped under the weight of teenage boys as they meandered throughout the underbrush. The sun was beginning to lower itself into its horizonal bed, painting the sky in a peachy shade to let everyone know that dusk was drawing near.

“What part of your secret is _so_ big that you literally have to take me all the way out here to show me?”

“Just hold on, we’re almost there”, Armin huffed out as he sidestepped around dents in the ground, lifting his thin leg over jutting sticks, and dodging roots littered about the soil. He used thick tree trunks to steady himself as he climbed over dodgy spots, then continuing on while absently wiping his hands off on his shorts.

Eren pursed his lips as he followed behind Armin, “You know, we’re lucky Mikasa has music lessons right now, cause she’d totally be against this-“

“Just shut up, and watch your step on the right”, he supplemented right before Eren nearly fell onto his face, tripping over a sharp rock.

Armin caught his arm swiftly, using his free hand to knock some of his hair out of his eyesight, “I brought you out here to be secretive, not for you to draw attention to us. You okay?”

“I- …..yeah, sorry”, he murmured as he straightened himself and lowered his voice,  “How often do you come out here, though, I couldn’t even see that thing! Or even half of the stuff we keep tripping over. Well… _I_ keep tripping over,”

Armin started his pace back again, and took in a long deep breath, letting the muted rotting wood and natural scents to cleanse through his body, “Okay, we’re almost there”, the blonde said, mostly to himself as he blatantly ignored Eren’s question, “Listen, so, you know how like I saved that frog? Like a few weeks ago?”

He was met with some silence, so he paused in his steps to peer over his shoulder.

The taller of the two stilled his ankles before he could topple over in unbalance, “The one I saw on the road? Its leg was broken?”, Armin added, searching for some type of memory to resurface.

Eren furrowed his brow in thought, “Yeah?”, he mused. He only half remembered the memory. He didn’t remember a broken leg or anything, but he could remember the blonde’s adorable reaction to seeing an animal in need. How he immediately fell to his knees, gently cupping the creature in his hands, and looked up at Eren with his wide eyes, thick lashes kissing his cheeks, _“Look what happened to him, we almost walked right by the little guy!”._

Armin rolled his eyes lightly but began walking off, cueing Eren into following close behind, “Well after you guys went home, I just kinda kept him for a bit. But like over some time, I knew that I didn’t know anything about frogs”, his breaths got a bit heavier as he had to continue climbing over boulders and logs, “I wasn’t sure how to help his leg or give him everything he needs, but…”

Armin’s words drifted off as a breeze blew by, making both boys’ hair lift and sway. They both appreciated the cool breeze as it swept past their sweat dusted bodies.

“….But?”, Eren questioned.

He immediately stopped in his steps as he almost ran into Armin, who’d suddenly halted before a wall of vines and thick leaves. The blonde turned around on his heel, almost bumping his forehead into Eren’s nose. Eren leaned his neck back so he could look down at Armin.

Armin jutted his chin up to make eye contact, “I know we’ve known each other for like ever, and we’ve been dating for like a year, and that I should totally trust you, but you have to promise me. _Promise_ me, that you will not tell anyone about this. Not Mikasa, not your mom, not Mina, not Marco, nobody. Okay?”, he requested with round blue eyes darting to transfix themselves onto his.

Eren ran a hand to the back of his neck, where he absently scratched nervously, “Yes, I promise”, he muttered. The intense stare in the blonde’s eyes was grounding, also a little unnerving, making him immediately promise without thinking of what it could possibly be or the repercussions for it. Whatever _it_ was.

But to Armin, his response didn’t sound committed enough.

“Eren, this is _so_ serious, okay? And not just for me. But…..for you, too. And Mikasa. Anyone who’s associated with us”, he spoke out, a bit rushed.

“That big of a secret?”, Armin gave a tight nod, “Why _us_ , though?”, he asked skeptically.

“Just take this seriously, okay?”, he begged, clearly frustrated with the question.

“ _Shit_ , I will, Armin, what is it?”, he gasped out looking utterly confused and worried.

Armin immediately opened his mouth to tell Eren precisely what he’s been hiding for a while now, but he hesitated. He didn’t even mean to hesitate. He actually began to mentally panic as to why _the hell_ he actually just hesitated. Eren’s eyes were boring into his skull, waiting for an explanation that was taking _far too long_ to present itself. Yes, it was most certainly illegal, but also he knew Eren was to be trusted the most out of anyone he knew. But a small inkling of a feeling on his scalp had made him freeze.

 _‘What if I’m wrong?’,_ he wondered.

What if all of things he’s been doing, (fully acknowledging just how illegal they are), is completely and totally the _wrong_ move. What if his grandfather was wrong? What if he shouldn’t be trying to explore things on his own, what if he’s supposed to keep suppressing these new abilities? Well, it wasn’t like now was the model moment to back down or get scared.

His mouth gaped open and quickly shut closed, flapping like a poor sea creature without water, “I….I’m….I think….no _gods_ , what am I talking about, I **_know_** that…I, um”, Armin fiddled with his thumbs and let his eyes drift down to his shoes.

 _‘Ah, my shoelace is untied, again’,_ he thought.

“That you’re what?”, Eren asked, bending his knees to try and meet Armin’s eyes again.

Eren’s voice raised a bit in pitch, slipping into a soothing tone, “You can tell me it’s okay. We came all the way out here alone, you can trust me,”

Armin gulped and kept attacking his lips with his teeth, gripping his eyes shut, damn near willing the world away as he tried to find his words, “….I know that…that…I…am…”

“That you are…”, Eren trailed off, trying to help.

“That….I’m….an…..ele….mental…?”, he muttered, letting his pitch raise with each chunk of wording.

Eren sucked in a deep breath, _“What?”,_ his hands flew to Armin’s face and he tilted his head upwards to meet his eyes, _“You’re **what**?”_

Armin kept chewing onto his bottom lip, his brows raised in apprehension, “I’m….an elemental”,

“Wait, wait, no. _No_. Elementals died out, Ar.”, he reasoned, looking off to fix his eyes on something else besides his boyfriend. His eyes scanned the trees, flicked from branch to branch, watching stray leaves shiver in the breeze rolling by.

“T-that can’t be right. The government killed all of them off decades ago because they were barbaric and destructi-“

Armin raised his hands to lay on top of Eren’s, “ _I’m_ an elemental”, he repeated as he found his grounding.

It felt nice to say it. Actually, it felt phenomenal to finally get it off of his chest, to think to himself, _‘Yes, I am an elemental. I could die for it, but it’s nice to accept who I am inside.’_

He huffed out a breath in disbelief, “No, Ar. You’re not. Look, I know you like reading those old fantasy history books, but that’s all it was. History. Yeah it isn’t too far behind us, but those people are gone. You’re not an elemental…you could…you could be _killed_ for that”,

Armin’s chest swelled with more confidence, “I know that, Eren, but look. Look at _me_ ”, he whispered. Using both of his forearms, he pushed Eren hands off of his face and stepped closer, raising his elbows onto the broad shoulders before him, “I’m right here. I’m an elemental, _trust me_. We haven’t died out, I’m _here_ ”,

His eyes had nothing but truth in them. But how could that possibly be? All elementals were sought after and killed all across the world. And elemental abilities were hereditary. So not only were elementals killed, but so were their children and their parents, and some of their other relatives. It was sad and widespread, but that’s just what happened back then.

Eren sighed some tension out of his chest, wrapping his arms around Armin’s waist, “H-how do you know? What proves it?”

Armin’s head tilted a bit to the side as if he were listening for something, “Um…well, lemme finish the explanation with the frog. So, I was debating on getting the frog a habitat or some type of tank to keep in my room, so I was looking up stuff online, and- we were facetiming during this, remember?”

“Yeah”,

“Okay, and you remember me walking off to go get something off of my desk, and then I suddenly had to go?”

“….I think?”

“…..Well whatever, it was at like 3 in the morning, that’s not the point, **_BUT_** , it was because the frog wasn’t where I had left him. I had given him a makeshift home out of an old tissue box, but the thing is, he _wasn’t_ inside the box. And his leg was _broken_ , so he couldn’t just jump out of there. So then I immediately hung up to focus on finding him,”

Eren nodded along to show he was listening.

“And I couldn’t find him at all, and I was starting to get upset, but behind me I heard this sound kind of like crackling? And so I checked and I saw my journal was moving. The journal grandpa left me when I was little, right?”

He didn’t continue until he received a nod as an answer.

“Well”, he dragged on, “The frog had crawled into the spine of the book. I was going to try and help him to get out, but there was something shining inside. The frog crawled out on its own, both of its legs seemed fine, and it just _waited_ for me to look at whatever was inside the book. Like it just sat there, looking at me”,

Eren narrowed his eyes, “And this…..was at 3 am?”

“Yeah and-“, Armin sucked in a sharp breath, “Are you thinking what I think you are?”

He raised his palms in surrender, “I-I-I’m not saying or thinking anything”,

A hurt look flashed across Armin’s face, “You already don’t believe me. You think I made it up. You haven’t even given me a chance to finish explaining”,

“Hold on a moment, Ar, I didn’t say anything”, he tried to argue, letting his hands find Armin’s waist again as he felt the other trying to draw away, “Keep explaining, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that alright?”

A few birds flew by overhead as another breeze filtered through the trees and bushes around them.

“I can’t believe you!”, Armin hissed. He felt betrayed.

He pushed against the wide chest infront of him, trying to pry Eren’s hold off of him.

 _“Armin”_ , Eren grunted out as he struggled to keep his hold tight, “Wait, a fucking second”,

“No! _No_! I can’t tell you. Not when you view it like this”, he argued as he finally pried himself away. Armin hugged his arms and slightly bent into himself.

“Armin”,

“No, Eren”, he said feeling his lip tremble a bit. He hated letting his emotions get the best of him, “I told you. This is so serious. _Serious_. And if you can’t take it seriously, then I refuse to tell you. This could mean whether or not _I lose my life_ , okay? I’m so fucking serious, right now.”, he finished as he held himself and tucked his lip in his mouth, blinking against some tears that were beginning to gather.

Eren’s entire form softened, “Armin-“

“I told you this because I trusted you! I’m trying to tell you because you’re important to me, and I thought you’d need to know! Someone would need to know in case I got hurt or if something happened to me!”

“I-“

“You have to take this seriously. Promise me that. And if you can’t, you need to leave”, he could barely say his last words as a hiccup jumped over his chest, making him shake harsher than he wanted, “And if you leave then….then…”

More birds flew in, the lot of them dotting the trees and almost creating a shadow across the floor simply by the sheer volume and population of them. The trees groaned in the silence as the two stood there in a standoff of sorts. Whether the trees groaned against the pushing wind or the weight of the birds, neither could tell.

He wiped at his damp cheeks roughly while his voice became thick with tears, “Then we can’t stay together anymore. I’ve come too far and I can’t just turn back”,

“Armin, I-“

“You _know_ what the government would do if they knew I was alive! Either promise right now or leave. And if you leave, you’ll be leaving me, too”,

Eren tried taking a step forward, but froze as Armin took more steps back and birds overhead cried out in protest.

“Promise or leave”, Armin repeated.

Eren clenched his jaw, “I promise. Armin _, I love you_. I don’t care what it is that you have to tell me right now, but please tell me. I will protect you, if I can.”, he waited for a response, but didn’t get one, “At lot of things are going on and you’re just scaring me a bit, okay?”

Armin nodded in understanding.

Eren returned one back, “I don’t want to lose you, okay?”

Armin’s chest was rising with nervous breaths, but he concurred clearly, “Okay”,

“You can tell me anything. I am on your side.”

The both of them didn’t move for a while, so Eren took the first step. He was relieved to see that Armin didn’t draw back, and that no birds were ready to fight him for it, so he took another. He slowly walked over to Armin as his boyfriend stared back.

The soft scent of Armin’s lavender shampoo met his nose in another silent breeze, and he hugged him softly to his chest, “I’m sorry”, he murmured against Armin’s blonde locks and lightly laid a kiss to the crown of his head.

Armin let his cheek smash against Eren’s shoulder, “S’okay”, he grunted gently. The blonde nuzzled his face into his boyfriend’s chest, both for comfort and to dry some of his tears, “I kinda overreacted anyways”,

“No, you didn’t. It’s okay, it’s okay”, he murmured.

The two pulled back and Eren chanced a look overhead as he watched even more birds begin to swoop in and land on adjacent branches and stumps. Armin tugged his lip into his mouth, “They came cause I got upset”,

“Huh?”

Armin looked around with Eren, “The birds, it’s happened before”,

“You’re kidding, right?”, Eren asked as he continued to watch as hawks, buzzards, finches, falcons, and even woodpeckers drew inwards.

“No. I told you, I’m an elemental, Eren. An Earth elemental. The ground, the animals, the plants, and trees and what not. I’m connected to it. They sense me, and I can sense them when I focus hard enough”,

Eren froze, staring at the boy in his arms.

“They can tell when I’m hurt or scared, so they were coming to protect me”, he added.

Eren was still frozen in shock, “But…but how…? I thought they killed all of the elementals off”,

Armin hugged Eren tighter, “Well, that’s what I thought too. But the journal grandpa gave me…”, he lifted his chin to look at his boyfriend, “It has some type of elemental magic. It told me about everything: what really happened, how my people survived, and how to use my abilities. The government _did_ kill off a lot of us, but we were still smart. We found careful ways to hide and blend in. Lots of elementals survived”,

“Huh….”, Eren trailed off in thought, “So, um…can you like, make the birds…do what you want?”

Armin grinned a little, taking one last sniff as his nose cleared up, “I can technically make anything out here do what I want”. His fist lightly ran over his eyes once more as some more tears pushed through. Grateful tears.

Eren pulled the balled up palms away from his boyfriend’s eyes, and stared deep into the azure before him incredulously, lightly running his thumbs over soft cheeks to rid them of drying tears, “That’s….weird, but cool,”

The blonde nodded back, “Yeah, I know”,

His boyfriend grinned softly, “Well….can you show me something?”,

Armin nodded in response, but neither moved from their position, yet. Armin continued to dry his tears with both his hands and Eren’s, softly apologizing every other minute for crying instead of handling the situation better. To which, Eren would argue that it was fine, and he’d be upset too if it were him.

After his face was completely dry, and his chest was empty of hiccups, the two stayed staring at each other. Eren’s hands framing the blonde’s face, and Armin’s hands gently laying on top of the others. Armin gave him a grateful smile, rubbing a comforting thumb over Eren’s knuckles.

Eren returned the grin, letting his eyes drift down to the soft curve of Armin’s lips. He cupped the shorter boy’s jaw in his hands, lightly tilting his head as he slowly leaned in. His eyes slipped closed, and he didn’t catch the light smirk on Armin’s face.

“Step back, Eren”,

“Oh! Oh, uh, sorry”, he muttered, embarrassed as he removed his hands from their perch on the gentle face.

“Well, go on, step back a bit”, he giggled.

Eren obeyed and took a few steps back, narrowly avoiding stepping onto a goose that’d been walking right there. It hissed in protest, but scurried away, and the teen had to grasp onto his heart in surprise.

Armin laughed from behind him, and Eren looked back in question, “What? Don’t laugh, I thought it was going to attack me”,

“I won’t let anything attack you”, he muttered between blips of laughter. Even though the comment was just fleeting, it still made Eren’s heart throb a little.

“Alright…so, um, what are you going to do?”,

“See how my shoes are untied?”

“Yeah?”

“Just…wait for it”,

The two of them stood in the silence, listening to leaves dance along other leaves. Frogs croaked, birds crooned, and branches snapped; but there wasn’t much anything happening.

“Ar-“

“Just…wait. I’m still getting the hang of it”, Armin squeezed his eyes shut in thought, pushing with all his might to see if he would be able to utilize his abilities correctly.

Eren nodded, putting his hands in his pockets for the time being. He didn’t want to rush him or mislead him to believe he wasn’t trusting in his words. He adored Armin, constantly looked after him. His heart hurt so badly when he’d seen the betrayal flash across the blonde’s cherubic face before, and he silently vowed to never let that happen again.

Breezes blew, and more trees groaned and squeaked, but nothing had seemed to happen. The sun was beginning to go even lower in the sky, making the clearing they were standing in a bit darker. Eventually, the brunette let his eyes slip close, rolling his neck to stretch, and absently wondering what he’d have for dinner. Maybe spaghetti. That’d be nice.

Lots of oregano and parmesan. That’d be double nice.

“Eren!! **_Eren!!_** Look!!”, Armin cried out.

Emerald irises snapped to attention, darting around looking for something to hone in on. He didn’t see anything.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s working!”, he shouted excitedly.

Eren furrowed his brow, “Ar…I don’t see anything”,

“ _Oh_! It’s okay to come closer, look at my shoes, more are coming”,

The teen stepped closer, training his eyes downward. At first his eyes weren’t able to catch onto anything, but then he saw the laces of Armin’s shoes beginning to lift and weakly twist around each other. Armin was staring down with him, his arms at his sides, hands tucked in his back pockets with a beaming grin.

Eren took a step back nervously, “W-w-what’s doing that? I can’t even see anything. What’s doing that?!”,

“ _Eren_ , Eren, calm down. They’re just spiders”,

His eyes nearly rolled out of his skull as he actively focused his eyes to see various sized spiders attempting to tie Armin’s shoe. Their lanky legs extended and folded in closely as they worked together to try and tie the laces, small collective mounds of browns and blacks beginning to accumulate around Armin’s ankles as more came in to help.

The blonde grinned, “Sorry, it tickles a little”, he said with a light laugh.

The laces looked more like wet noodles trying to be used as swords. They were just randomly twisting, and bumping into each other. Sometimes they were dropped, only for an even larger spider to crawl in and help with the work load.

Eren kept taking steps back as his fingers curled and he bit onto his tongue in unease, “Oh my god…that’s….too many spiders, Ar. How the hell are you comfortable”,

Armin’s smile was practically lighting up the whole area, “Oh, they won’t hurt me, see? They came to help when I asked! I did it! I did well! I got it to work!”,

Eren nodded, still edging away. He stopped when he felt he was a safe distance away, but Armin’s voice choked up suddenly.

“ _Oh_ , no, _Eren_! Watch out-“,

Eren screamed, louder than he’d ever screamed in his entire life. A thump was felt on his shoulder as something with considerable weight had landed on him. It clearly had multiple appendages as it tried to gather its balance by crawling around across his back, leg after leg after leg applying pressure to his clothed skin. It felt like a random hand had grasped onto the back of his neck. He was a wild tornado of flinging limbs, letting out loud screeches as he knocked whatever had landed on him, off.

 ** _“GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OOOOFFF!”,_** he roared.

Armin cried out in protest, “Wait, no! _No_! **Eren** , don’t hurt them!”

Eren had ignored him though, and continued to fling and jerk, making sure that whatever it was, it couldn’t hold on any longer. He was totally panicking, nearly knocking his own arms out of their sockets with the violent movements.

“Eren! Stop! Look, look they’re gone, you’re oka-“

**“ARMIN! ARMIN!”,**

“ _Calm the fuck_ down”, he called out sternly through his teeth, making Eren slow down in his steps.

He kept running his hands over himself, checking for any type of living creature attached to his form. Armin made his way over to Eren, gently extending a hand out to pat him down all over.

“Calm down. Look, see? There’s nothing on you-”,

“ARMIN WHAT THE FUCK _WAS_ ON ME, THEN”,

“Shhhh!”, he hissed harshly, “You already scared the birds away, don’t scare people into coming here to try and _rescue_ someone. You sound like you’re being mauled by a bear. _Jeez_ , it was just a big spider”,

“What the fuck type of spider was that huge?!”, he hissed through his teeth.

Armin let out a chuckle, “Well, it’s actually pretty funny, you see, they call them Bird Eating Spiders cause they’re like big enough to eat birds, but they don’t even eat-”,

Eren just let out a small squeal and continued to rush his palms all over his body, seeking some form of validity that he was safe.

“Hey, calm down, already. I sent them away”, he supplemented, gently resting his palm on Eren’s shoulder.

Eren took a moment to look around, scanning the dark earth around them for any type of insect, small or large. He was calmed enough to see that there wasn’t anything, and let the tension seep from his muscles, his heart beat gradually thudding back to normal.

Armin rested both of his hands on Eren’s wide shoulders, rubbing the jitters away, “Besides…even though I thought it’d be cool, the spiders have never been taught to tie shoe laces, so I had to do it on my own. It was kinda all for naught….”,

He looked a little defeated, but he was still pretty satisfied he was able to summon them in the first place. But more upset for scaring the life out of his boyfriend and taking up the kind spiders’ time.

“Sorry I didn’t notice the big one earlier”, he murmured, “I was still focusing on my feet. This was supposed to be nice, but I messed it up”,

Eren shook his head immediately, “No, it’s okay…I uh, I wasn’t paying enough attention-”,

“And I’m really sorry that I accidently summoned too many spiders. I didn’t control it well enough-”,

“It’s alright, Armin. Don’t stress over it, uh, I’m okay”, he sounded a bit unsure, but it’s the effort that counts.

Armin patted his shoulder again, “How about I try something else to show you how I use my abilities? Something less…leggy”,

The brunette nodded in agreement rather quickly, and followed behind Armin as they approached the wall of vines from before.

“Now, I know it’s getting dark, but watch carefully”,

Armin lifted an arm into the air, lightly flicking his wrist as the tall thick wall lightly swayed and moved on its own to the side, revealing a small stone path. The circular smooth rocks were leading out in a long line, stretching farther into the dark where neither boy could see.

The blonde grasped onto his boyfriend’s hand tightly, “Stay close, I know the way”.

He smiled up at Eren and was delighted to get one back, even if it was a little crooked with nerves.

***

For weeks, Armin took Eren out to see all of the beautiful things he’d made out in his own grove. It was a clearing, carved out from rock, dirt, and tree trunks. It was like a small earth elemental safe haven in the middle of the woods. He was able to begin building a small house like structure, it wasn’t much at first, nor did it stay up too well. But he kept trying with Eren’s encouragement.

When they visited in the night, Armin called for fireflies, mushrooms, and worms to light up their way as they walked. In the daytime, they carefully covered their steps, hid well, and Armin summoned out large birds, deer, and bears to guard the path’s entrance way.

Over time, Armin had brought out his grandfather’s prized illegal books, pillows, blankets, and other things to make his second nature home as comfortable as possible. He created bookcases out of branches, called to the Earth and was able to make the ground open up for him, leading to a ‘downstairs’ in their small club house.

It was all coming together very well. And now, here they were months later, inside the small home made from sticks and earth, sharing blankets and warmth. Armin was tucked under Eren’s chin, his arms wrapped around the thin torso pressed against him. Eren’s breathing had deepened, but Armin couldn’t tell if he was asleep yet.

“Eren?”, he spoke out.

“Hm?”,

“I never finished telling you my frog story….or showed you my grandpa’s journal”,

He grunted in response. Eren wasn’t much for conversation when he was tired.

“Do you wanna see the journal? Or hear the story?”,

Another grunt was heard.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”,

Eren nestled his nose into Armin’s hair, lightly kissing his scalp and smelling the soft scents of lavender and honey.

“Okay, well, um, so the frog was waiting for me to check the book, right? So, I did, and inside it was this shining gem. It was small, and kind of dirty with old roots and all this junk on it, but it was glowing, like _really_ brightly. But when I grabbed it, the light almost _blinded_ me, it just shone harshly. And so, when I took it out of the book’s bindings, the journal it suddenly flipped closed onto the front cover”.

Eren shifted himself to prop up on his elbows, making Armin use him like a reclining chair, “And…?”, he asked with curiosity.

Armin moved, propping his chin onto his hands as they laid on Eren’s chest, “The front of the book was always wrinkled and bumpy and I used to think it was just for some cool nature, organic shape, sort of aesthetic. But, as I paid attention, there was a small outline that was shaped exactly like the gem in my hand.”,

“So, what happened?”,

“I put it in, and the whole entire journal changed. The outside looked the same of course, but inside, everything I ever wrote was gone. It was replaced by my _grandfather’s writing_. And he talked about everything that happened decades ago when they tried to kill us all off. He said that the gem in the book can help me control and stay in tune with my abilities.”,

Eren hummed, “That’s really awesome”,

“Yeah”, Armin murmured back, giving his chin a break by turning to rest on his cheek.

“….Ready to show me the journal?”,

The blonde head of hair nestled itself closer to the taller boy, “Let’s stay like this for a bit”,

“Mmkay”, he murmured, carefully lowering himself down onto his back. He folded his hands behind his head, letting his chest slightly boost Armin higher. His eyes had long drifted closed, simply letting the earthy smell of the room fill up his lungs, and letting the smooth motion of Armin’s breathing soothe him.

Armin crawled up his chest, tucking his head into Eren’s neck. He lightly kissed the soft skin there. Eren was really warm, always warm, and his skin was a little salty due to all the humidity in the summertime. Armin liked it, and he liked the way his ribs pressed into the ones below him. And he liked the natural scent Eren had, that was faintly like cinnamon.

He loved how secure he felt with him. How Eren would wrap his arms around his waist and make him feel small and safe. How he’d lightly run his fingertips down his back when they laid down, or when he’d randomly hold him tighter as if he didn’t want him to get up yet.

Eren craned his head in the other direction to give his boyfriend more room, and Armin took it. He gently kissed down his neck, languidly, dragging his lips down the damp skin. Eren cracked a smile, while he bit onto his plump bottom lip, enjoying the way Armin’s lips would be caught to his skin for seconds at a time until he pulled away and dived back in.

Armin’s kisses were always chaste and slow, gently pressing his soft plushy flesh against Eren’s tepid neck. Eren took one arm from behind him to lay it across Armin’s back. He lightly tapped his fingertips down Armin’s spine, feeling each bump through his thin shirt, letting his warmth kiss his hand.

The kisses along his neck steadily climbed up to his jaw, right below his ear, to the side of his chin, to right below his bottom lip. He released the plump flesh from between his teeth as he enveloped the light pink lips before him with his own.

They both sighed into the kiss, tilting their heads in opposite directions to bring themselves in deeper. Eren’s hand rose to the back of his boyfriend’s skull, gently tangling his fingers through long wisps of gold. Armin allowed his legs to straddle Eren’s waist, stretching his torso on top of the longer body beneath him.

His soft arms surrounded Eren’s head as he continued pressing, rubbing, caressing, tasting, and pecking serene lips, letting his eyes close as he focused completely on how everything felt. The two of them pulled out and pushed back in languidly, letting the momentum of initiating to drive them to the end, making Armin arch his back.

As they pulled apart gently, Armin opened his mouth to speak.

“Eren, I-“,

His words were consumed as Eren used his leverage in Armin’s hair to pull him back in. Armin made a small sound of protest before it slurred into a sigh. The brunette gently prodded into the other’s mouth, softly wrapping and sucking on his tongue.

Armin let out a moan, accidently encouraging Eren to roll over and cage him beneath his bigger form. His hands ran across the broad shoulders above him, sliding across from the lean muscle to the layers of chocolate. His digits carded through the smooth tresses, lightly dragging his nails in his movements’ wake.

He let his fingers fan out along the bobbing head, feeling the muscles in his neck moving every diving motion he initiated as he drove their kiss deeper and deeper. As Armin tried to pull away, Eren tugged his lip into his mouth, giving him a second chance for a longer kiss.

Armin lightly whined against him, halfheartedly smacking Eren’s back in retaliation, making a chuckle rise out of the other. Soon enough they grew quiet again and he couldn’t help but enjoy the kiss. The blankets were tangled together, their hair was a wreck, and neither of them cared at all.

When the kiss finally ended, Eren surrendering the pink lips he loved he kiss, Armin lightly hit his chest, “Don’t interrupt me again”,

“Sorry”, he murmured, sounding completely unapologetic, as he tried to lean in once more.

“Hey!”, he protested, laying a hand against his chest to stop him, “I was going to thank you for being trustworthy, but you’re not even letting me”,

Eren lightly ran his hand over Armin’s, pulling it away to wrap around his neck. He swooped back in, stealing more kisses. Between each, he paused, “You shouldn’t”, kiss, “Have to thank me”, kiss.

Armin pushed his palm back out letting a grin take hold of his features, “Why?”,

“I’m supposed to be trustworthy”, he mentioned, pecking the blonde’s cheek, “I’d do anything for you. This shouldn’t surprise you”,

Armin flushed as he covered his face, “Oh, well, thanks anyway”, he muttered behind his fingers.

Eren let loose a smirk, “Why are you covering your face?”

“Leave me alone”, he whined, sounding garbled behind his hand.

His boyfriend tore his hand away to kiss across bright red cheeks, laughing as Armin tried to push him off.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Ar. I love you and I’ll always protect you.”,

_“Shut up!”_


End file.
